Cook County sheriff's deputy killed in Mount Greenwood head-on crash

CHICAGO (SUN TIMES MEDIA WIRE) - A Cook County sheriff’s deputy headed to work Monday night was killed in a head-on crash in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood on the Far South Side.

About 9 p.m., the 39-year-old veteran deputy was driving north in the 10300 block of South Kedzie Avenue when he struck a Jeep that had backed out of a driveway and began turning southbound, Chicago police said.

He was transported to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died, authorities said.

The deputy, Nick Theofanopoulos, had been driving to Christ Medical Center to relieve a fellow deputy, Cook County sheriff’s office spokeswoman Sophia Ansari said.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and fellow deputies at this exceptionally difficult time,” Ansari said.

He was employed with the sheriff’s office for more than 15 years, Ansari said. His most recent assignment was the Cook County Department of Corrections’ external operations unit.

The 21-year-old woman driving the Jeep was treated at the same hospital, according to Chicago police, who said she was not issued a citation.

Theofanopoulos lived in southwest suburban Oak Lawn, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. An autopsy Tuesday found he died of multiple injuries from the crash and his death was ruled an accident.